The Aftermath of Riyadh
by MarenMary93
Summary: Dr. Connor Rhodes spent about a year in Riyadh. But there is not that many that knows what happened over there... (And yeah [RodesXReese]) Hurt!Connor or Hurt!Rhodes
1. What happened in Riyadh

**So… I've started watching Chicago Med… No surprises there…  
And… Again, no surprises… I figured that I would start torturing their characters… **

**And well… Dr. Rhodes…  
Dr. Rhodes will be one of my puppets from now on… **

_Riyadh, November 2013._

His heart was pounding in his chest. Adrenaline was blazing through his veins… His shoulder was on fire and he had his left hand well inside the chest of a kid, no older than 15… His hold on one of the kid's veins was all that kept the young boy from bleeding out. He couldn't let go…

He crouched down low over the unconscious boy, hoping that it was low enough not to catch another bullet or another piece of flying debris.

Shrapnel was flying through the air as bombs went off all around him. And some maniac somewhere was firing an assault rifle… Most likely there were many maniacs firing lots of assault rifles… He was in a war-zone for crying out loud…

He glanced towards his right shoulder. Blood… The front of his bulletproof west was smothered with red liquid…

 _'_ _Turns out… The bullet needs to hit the west for the west to be of any use…'_

His mind was rambling…  
He shouldn't be making inside jokes with himself, he should save the kid… Then he should do something about the wound in his own shoulder…

He started getting light-headed.

 _'_ _God, if you're out there… Please don't let me pass out just yet… I need to stay alert until someone can take care of this kid for me…'_

The whipping sound of a bullet seemed to pass by right beside his head, so he flattened himself even more. Careful to keep the boy's vein pinched between his fingers.

His whole right side felt like it was about to fall apart, felt like his arm was just about to fall off… Was this what all the GSW patients felt like? Poor souls…

He let a scream rip from his throat as his shoulder seemed to seize up on him. During his time in Saudi Arabia, he had seen many horrible things… Things that gave him nightmares on a regular basis…

He mostly worked out of the hospital, but when the ambulances were in need of doctors… He volunteered…

 _'_ _Never volunteer for anything!'_ for the life of him, he could not remember whom had told him that… But it might have been a pretty good advice, in hindsight…

He could feel how the kid's heart beat slow and weak against the fingers of his left hand. The kid would probably die anyway… There was no way he could survive that hole in his chest…  
But Connor kept his thumb and index-finger pressed against each other, cutting off the blood-flow… He had to at least try to save the kid…

His chin dropped, jerking at his injured shoulder… He let out another painful scream, tears had started falling from his eyes by the gallon. His shoulder hurt so much! There was no end to it!

He heard sirens far away… Too bad it wasn't coming for them…

 **CM**

He woke up in the ambulance on his way back to the hospital. The first thing he noticed was pain. All consuming pain… Pain he had never felt before…

It took him a couple of attempts to open his eyes, a task so simple had never before been so hard…

"Dr. Rhodes, you've been hit… We're taking you back to the hospital now…" a man with a thick Australian accent spoke above him. Dr. Irwin…  
 _Oddly enough not related to the Crocodile Man... Or Crocodile Hunter… You know… Steve Irwin…_

He heard himself let out a painful moan, his shoulder was bothering him more by the minute.

"The kid?" his voice was raw, and his tongue felt like sandpaper.

"Thanks to you… He might make it…" Irwin understood what he had meant, "But you should be looking out for yourself a bit more… We don't want a doctor's funeral, mate…"

In his haze of agony, he went to give a thumb up. Which he in his state didn't plan good enough, and another flare of pain shot through his right side, causing him to black out once again.

 **CM**

When he finally woke up a couple of days later, he had IV tubes stuck to him and a heart monitor was beeping steadily by his side.

His right side hurt, but not nearly as bad as he thought he remembered. Maybe they had put him on a morphine drip? Yeah… That was probably it…

His right arm was cradled in a sling. One of those universal blue ones, found absolutely EVERYWHERE on the planet. He looked at it drunkenly, trying to figure out how messed up his arm and shoulder probably was… He had seen soldiers and civilians alike rushing through the hospital, GSWs, some could go back to whatever they usually did after a short month… Others were crippled for life…

He felt tears press on again… This time not because of pain, but because of the sudden uncertainty of his future…  
Sure, he could sell his soul and work with his dad… But that was the last thing he wanted! Hell! Getting shot again was higher up on that list!

"Look who's awake!" a nurse named Jenny Hansen smiled at him. "How are you feeling, hun?"

He almost laughed… He started, but the pain in his shoulder area was too much…

"Alive…" he said, as he tried to get over the worst of the pain. "Yeah… Definitely alive…"

"The pain-med's doing their thing?" green eyes locked on his.

"Sure a lot less painful than back at the site…" he scratched the back of his head with his good hand. "How long was I out for?"

"Three days… It's Monday…"

Connor winced at the fact that he'd been out for that long, must have been some injury…? Yeah… He had been shot, but he had managed to stay awake long enough to…

"The kid?" he looked up at her, she looked back down at him with a confused expression.

"The kid… The one with the chest wound… The one I was trying to save when they found me…?"

Realization seemed to dawn on Jenny as she stepped a little closer. Her face breaking into a soft smile.

"He made it. He's already awake…"

 **CM**

 _Chicago, December 2015_

Connor Rhodes was brutally forced awake once again. His heart was hammering in his chest, sweat was pouring from him and he was sure he could _taste_ blood.

Vivid images of grenades going off and bullets hitting innocent people were dancing around in his brain. Another nightmare unfolding, stealing his sleep…

He winced as his shoulder stabbed with familiar pain… It was going to snow soon…

He sat up, panting as the images faded and his surroundings got clearer and clearer.

Too shaken to go back to sleep for another hour, he grabbed a hold of his right arm and pressed himself to his feet… Today was not gonna be a fun day, judging by the pain radiating from his shoulder.

He shuffled over to his dresser, rummaged through the bottom drawer with his left hand and pulled out a sling.

He knew it would probably come as a shock to most of his colleagues. Sharon Goodwin, the chief of services knew, and she had agreed to not tell the other doctors about it, and to work something out if it was needed... And April had seen his scar, but she hadn't asked about it…

The only two people that knew anything about his shoulder was Sharon Goodwin, the chief of services, and April Sexton. Sharon had agreed to hire him, and not tell the rest of the staff about his little handicap unless the situation called for it. And April must have seen his scar, even though she didn't mention anything as she helped him stitch his arm back up…

He put the sling on, then he gently lifted his right arm inside it. Another lightning-bolt struck his shoulder before the arm was secured.

Boy, would he be a joke today? A trauma surgery fellow with one arm tied behind his back, so to speak…

He padded over to the bathroom, found the orange cylinder containing Vicodin and shook one pill into his palm. He usually managed without the meds, but today was going to be particularly rough…

 **Okay… So I know there might not be that much Chicago Med fanfic out here yet… And I don't know if it will ever catch on… It's not all shows that fit fanfiction…  
But I'm giving this one a try… Hope you liked it…**

 **And as always… I'm willing to make any story longer, as far as there is enough interest...**


	2. Getting to work

**Okay… So… The plan was to continue this one… Which I'm doing… It only takes a little time…**

His right arm was strapped against his midriff as he entered the train towards the hospital. He could easily see his father, laughing of the fact that a Rhodes would even consider taking the train…

But he was as far from his father as it was possible to get, without turning into his own grandpa… His grandpa was the best, he was the man Connor strived to become.

Like always, he headed for one of the railings and the place you usually stood during the ride. It was his arm that was bothering him, not his legs… He could sit down when he got old… He could rest when he got old…

He only hoped that his father wouldn't visit the hospital today… He had been there a lot since Connor started working there… Always with a sly comment or a joke about how 'proud' he was of his son, or about how 'perfect' his son was… Yeah…  
Connor couldn't remember the last time his father actually said something half-decent about him… If he did, there was always a catch…

And yeah… He hadn't told his father about the incident in Riyadh… So an arm in a sling would only become another target for him…

 **CM**

His shoulder throbbed as the train closed in on the station where he would exit.

The train slowed down, and stopped with a slight jerk. Enough to throw Connor a little off balance, making his day a little more miserable. He bit down on his lip to stop himself from cussing. Then he tugged his messenger bag a little closer, and stepped out on the platform.

He wasn't in any kind of hurry, the pain had woken him hours before he was supposed to get up… And now, one and a half hours before he was supposed to clock in, he was maybe seven minutes away from the entrance door…

Well… He had nothing better to do…  
Except sitting alone and feeling sorry for himself…  
Which wasn't an option for him… He was afraid that if he started on that path, he would never be able to get off it…

So he walked towards the hospital…

 **CM**

The ER was packed with people. A whole lot of fractures of every kind… Old ladies hips, younger people's wrists… And a few everyday fractures of the kind 'Look-MA-no-hands!'

A smile crossed Ethan's face when he saw the familiar black hair he knew had to be Connor…

He excused himself to the patient, told her that he needed to grab a hold of one of his colleagues, and skipped through the busy waiting room.

"Dr. Rhodes, Dr. Rhodes!" he stopped a few yards away, "Connor!"

 **Okay… Will be back with more soon, I guess… Busy time during the holidays…**

 **Thanks for the support!**

 **Yeah… I know this was about the shortest chapter ever… Sorry…**


	3. okay

**Okay… I'm baaack!**

Ethan Choi stood frozen a few feet away from Connor. His brain just couldn't connect the dots, he saw but he couldn't understand…

He saw pain written across his friends face, saw the odd way he held himself and the blue sling, barely visible under Dr. Rhodes' jacket. But he couldn't really understand…

"What…" he nodded towards the sling.

Connor smiled a tired smile. He was way behind on the hours he was supposed to sleep this month, but nobody needed to know about that… He knew he had to tell them why he needed a damn sling, but that could wait a few more minutes, couldn't it?

"I'll tell you about it when I can tell you in a less crowded place… Okay?"

Choi only nodded as Connor headed towards the south wing.

 **CM**

Food didn't tempt him when his shoulder acted up like this…

During the first six months after the thing in Riyadh, he had lost almost 50 lbs. After that weight-loss he just looked sick… Turns out, if you're a 5'11" man who usually weighs in at somewhere just below 180 (muscles and all…), you'll look like a ghost of yourself when you drop down to 125 lbs.…

So… he had learned how to eat when every fiber in his being told him not to. To eat when he was certain that whatever went down was bound to come back up again… Because he didn't like being skinny… He liked having muscles… He felt better that way…  
So he had started forcing himself to eat, especially when he was in pain…

The time since Riyadh had learned him a couple of things about himself.  
1) He wasn't DONE until he was laying, shivering in the fetal position, cold-sweating and puking due to the pain…  
2) When he _thought_ he was about to puke, he was still far away from that point.  
3) Even though he hated it, with all that he had, he had to take it easier at sometimes…  
Which easily lead to 3b) He had to let himself heal…

So he dug his teeth into the sandwich he had brought from home. And it tasted like sand to him…  
He spent fifteen minutes forcing the piece of food down his throat, and wearily contemplated if a feeding tube would be a better choice… At least, that way he wouldn't have to jam food down his throat when he felt like puking at the thought of eating…

When he had finished the sandwich, he went to the locker room and changed into his work-clothes… Then he headed up to Sharon Goodwin and asked her if she could make one of the others take the surgeries today. Which turned out to be easier than he had expected.

 **CM**

"You know… You are allowed to call in sick… Quite frankly you look like you could use about a weeks worth of rest…"

Connor chuckled grimly.

"Goodwin, you see…" he shook his head, staring at his shoes, "I can't let myself lay down and rest whenever my shoulder hurts…"

Sharon tilted her head as if to ask why… Connor understood…

"Because I would never get back up… Once I start giving in, I will believe that it hurts more and more, and I'll never be able to get back up and do an honest day's work…"

Sharon nodded, "Okay then… But whenever you feel like you need a break, you just tell me and I'll manage it…"

Connor nodded, "Okay…"

 **Okay… I hope you enjoyed it!**


	4. cast

**Well… Guess who's back…**

"How did it happen?"

"Slipped and fell on a patch of ice…"

"Happens to the best of us…"

"Is that what happened to you?"

Dr. Rhodes shook his head. "No…"

The patient, a fifty-sixty something gentleman with a fracture to his radius, looked at him.

"Old injury… Acts up to cold weather… I think it's forecasting snow…"

The man nodded knowingly.

"My old man had a hip-injury that worked like that… Got it back in 'nam…"

Connor's lips drew a tight smile over his teeth. "Yeah… Seems like a lot of soldiers end up like that…"

The man nodded, "You a soldier?"

Connor shook his head again… "No, this happened about four months before I got the chance to enlist…"

"But it was your plan?"

Connor nodded. "Yeah… I felt drawn to it…"

The older man nodded, "My kin have been military since my grandpa served in WW1, possibly before that too.. My sons are already making their way up the ladder, but none of them wish to get any higher than captains… My daughter is still too young to enlist, but she has made it clear that that is the only way she'll go…"

"I bet you're proud of them…"

"Yeah… I am… But to be honest, I'm scared shitless too…"

Connor nodded. He certainly understood why the father would be scared…

"Would it bother you if I asked how you injured your arm in the first place?"

Connor looked back up from the charts he had been trying to read.

"Wrong place, wrong time… I guess…" he almost chuckled, "I volunteered for a job I should never have volunteered for…"

The man looked at him confused, his eyes begging for more information… But he was too polite to ask straight out…

"Worked at a hospital near a war-zone, volunteered to go with the ambulance on missions one day… Some guys decided to attack a town that day, I happened to be in the way…"

"That blows…"

"Yeah… But it sure beats viewing the grass from below…"

"Amen to that…" the older man agreed.

"Now, back to the matter at hand… Let's get a cast on that arm of yours…"

The man nodded.

"I just need to find a colleague who can do the handiwork…"

"Yeah… It doesn't look like the perfect job for you right now…"

"Nah… Would have been easier with both hands…"

 **CM**

"Reese!"

Sarah turned around quickly as Dr. Rhodes called out her name. Her heart always fluttered when she saw him, and for good reasons. Because he looked like a model, and acted all nice and kind to her… And as long as he didn't know she fantasized about him, everything was good…

"Yes, wha…"

The sight of the blue sling made her freeze mid-sentence.

"What happened to you?"

"I have a patient, I need a hand… I'll tell you when he's in a cast and headed back home…"

"Okay…"

 **CM**

"Does it feel too tight?"

"No, miss."

Sarah felt her cheeks blush. Nobody ever called her miss…

"Good… You will need to wear a cast for at least 4 weeks, after 4 weeks we'll check if your arm has healed up nicely. And if that's the case, then you're free to go…"

"Alright" the man nodded as he sat up straighter, "Do I pay at the front desk?"

"Yeah, where you checked in…"

"Thanks!"

Sarah smiled, she liked this part of the job. When the patients left, with smiles on their faces…

When the older man left, and the door shut behind him, she turned towards Rhodes.

"Now… Can you tell me what happened to you? And please don't let it be a patch of ice…"

"I got shot…"

She felt her eyes widen at the shock. Shot? He wasn't bleeding to death…

"When?"

"A couple of years ago… It's usually just fine..."

"You got shot?" she couldn't understand it… Her brain just couldn't quite decipher that word…

"Yeah… As I said, it happened a couple of years ago…"

"And it's usually _fine_?"

"Yeah… Except when bad weather is rolling in…"

"And you decided Chicago was the right place to live?"

"It's not that bad… This is one of the extremes… I mean… I could swear we will have a snowstorm within long…"

"Worse when it's snowy?"

"Yeah…" Connor let his good hand glide through his black hair.

"How did you get shot in the first place?!"

"Spent a year overseas at a hospital after my residence… Took a few extra shifts with the ambulances… Turned out to be a stupid move…"

"How long does _that_ last?" she nodded towards his shoulder

"The pain?"

She nodded, her eyes locked with Connor's.

"Might be all good tomorrow when I wake up, might last a few weeks…" he shrugged his good shoulder.

"So… You don't know?..."

He shook his head, all though it was a little past two years since the injury, it could still be counted as fairly fresh… And he was still getting the hang of it…

Sarah scrounged her nose a bit, and wished that she could fix his world in an instant.

"Just… Tell me if you need something…" She finally said, "Anything…"

She saw a smirk pass over his lips, and a kind expression showing in his eyes. "Thank you…"

 **Okay… I'm just going to leave this here for a while…**

 **What do you think about a possible Connor and Sarah relationship? (I'm just going to make it flirty… Relax…) And BTW, I just act like Dr. Zanetti doesn't exist… Or at least that the relationship of some sort between Dr. Rhodes and Dr. Zanetti, doesn't exist…  
Please don't kill me… **


	5. lunch

**I'm back, again…**

Lunch time rolled around, and he earned Dr. Choi and a couple of the others an explanation.

And of course they sat ready by the time he got there…

"Now, Connor… Can you tell us now…?" Ethan asked.

He nodded, as he placed his tray down where he intended to sit.

"Of course…" he sat down, and readjusted his sling, in an attempt to make it more comfortable… No such luck…

He was pretty sure the whole shift sat around the table, Ethan, Will, Natalie, Daniel, Sarah, Maggie and April… Okay, so not the whole shift he was on, but a good part of it…

"Did you slip on the ice just as about every patient in here today?" Will asked playfully.

"You didn't tell them?" he looked towards Sarah, impressed with her…

"No, not my story to tell… I figured…" she winked back at him.

"Thank you!" he smiled back at her, before he got back to the question. "No, didn't slip on anything… Just an old injury acting up…"

He saw how April's eyes glued to the spot where she knew there was a scar. But she didn't say anything.

"So, how did it happen?" Will tilted his head, looking between Connor and his arm.

"I injured it back in Riyadh… During that year I spent over there…"

"Did you dislocate it? Or fracture it? Or…"

Connor shrugged his good shoulder, he really hadn't planned on telling everybody just yet…

"You could say I did both…" He felt some kind of guilt rush through him as a confused expression crossed just about everybody's faces.

"Okay… I stood a little too close to an IED, plus I just happened to get shot…" he said it with an as normal voice as he could muster. Hoping that none of them really caught what he was saying…

But the eyes that tried to lock with his eyes told him he hadn't been as lucky…

"You got shot?!" Will half-whispered.

Connor nodded, and stared down at his food. "Yeah… I did…"

"Why?" Will had gone in to full interrogation mode.

"He doesn't know _why_ he got shot, stupid!" Maggie shot back.

"I know why… I was in the middle of a bullet's pathway…" he tried to smile, but it was futile, "That's usually the reason you get shot…"

"Okay, he's trying to joke about it… Can that be healthy Daniel?" Natalie interrupted.

"I guess it's healthier than not talking about it at all…" Dr. Daniel Charles answered, before taking the time to ask a question of his own… "Connor, do you feel like you can't talk openly about this?"

Connor felt a slight rage boil within him, he didn't really have a problem talking about it… At least he didn't _think_ he had a problem with it…

"I don't have a problem talking about it! It's just that I know that everybody suddenly sees me in a different light… Like I'm something else than I actually am…" he exhaled through his nose before he continued, "Most days I'm fine… And then days like this one comes around and it hurts a bit… Sometimes a lot… But it passes, and I get better again…"

"So, you're afraid we'll think you are different because of something that happened to you…" Daniel prompted.

"I… I…" Connor couldn't do anything but stutter.

"Give the man a break! He'll tell us everything we'll need to know, when we need to know it…" Ethan chimed in, his head swimming with memories of fellow soldiers in the Navy.

"Thank you…" Connor grabbed his sandwich and looked around the table, "I… I think I've got to go…"

 **Who doesn't love nosy co-workers? Certainly not the person they're being nosy about…**


	6. choi

**Good morning, day, evening or night… I guess…**

Connor locked himself in a storage room, his heart was beating faster than it should… His palms got sweaty, his hands shaky…

 _Was he panicking?  
Yes, he was probably panicking in a storage room at work… It was a long time since the last time he had freaked out… _

Tears had started flowing down his cheeks, and he couldn't keep quiet any longer. Pain and panic setting him off edge…

He sobbed. The tremors shooting pain through troublesome shoulder.

 **CM**

Ethan knocked on the door he had seen Rhodes storm in a few minutes earlier. After the first five or six sobs he decided to interfere.

"Rhodes, I know you're in there… And I will pick the lock if you don't let me in this instant!" he paused a few seconds before he continued, "I mean it!"

He finally heard movements from inside, and the door locked open.

"Pick the lock?" Rhodes red-rimmed eyes stared back at him.

"Forgot my key back in the cafeteria…" Ethan explained. "May I come in?"

Connor looked down, but stepped aside making room for Ethan.

 **CM**

They sat in silence for a long while… The only sound in the room was Connor sobbing every now and then.

It took twenty minutes before any of them said a word.

"It was messed up…" Connor finally confessed.

Ethan just nodded, and placed his foot in a way that lead to their legs touching. He knew that some kind of touch might be comforting… So he was relieved when Connor didn't flinch away…

"It went from 0 to 60 in less than a second…" Connor said after a few more seconds. "I don't know what to do…"

"Nobody expects you to…"

"No, no, no, no… I don't know what to do… I don't know what to do now…"

"Okay…" Ethan looked over at Connor sitting beside him in the dark, "Just tell me the problem, and maybe we can figure out how to deal with it together?"

He could sense Connor nodding.

"I want to talk about it… I want to get it out of my system…" Connor wiped away a few tears in the dark. "But every time I try… I end up re-living the event, and I feel like I'm burdening whoever I tell…"

"Trust me that when I tell you that you won't be burdening any of us… If you decide to tell us about it. It's kinda a part of our job, and you know that…" Ethan looked at his own hands, there wasn't much to see in the dark room, "I can't exactly tell you what to do about that other problem, how to get better… I wish I could…"

"Thanks…" Connor wiped his eyes once again, "And thanks for following me…"

"Don't mention it…"

 **CM**

"So… How do you want us to act?" Ethan asked after a couple of minutes of quiet chatting.

"Like nothing ever happened…" Connor answered, "Unless I drag one of you away, and start talking… Then you just… You just…"

He trailed off in search of words.

"Then we just handle it… To the best of our abilities…?"

"Yeah… That sounds good… You can tell the other that if you'd like…" Connor smiled, "By the way, can you help me back up? My shoulder started cramping…"

"Sure…"

 **CM**

It was getting close to the end of the shift. And no one had acted as a mother hen towards him… Except maybe Reese, but that had been more physical… Like offering to do different tasks for him… Which was nice…

He was just about to take on the last patient of the day when Sarah stopped him, again…

"Dr. Rhodes… Errr… Connor…" she blushed.

"Yeah… Do you need help with anything?" he asked as he picked up the file on James Olson, his last patient of the day…

She shook her head.

"No… I… I was just wondering if you'd like to…" she trailed off and her face took on an even deeper shade of red.

He waited…

"If you'd like to come over to my place… I could make some dinner for us…"

Connor smiled, even though his shoulder was killing him, he smiled…

"That sounds great!"

"Meet up after we change out of these scrubs then…?"

He smiled and nodded, "Great!"

 **Okay… I have to admit, I'm far from the queen of fictional breakdowns and/or flirting… But as far as I'm concerned, there is only one way to get better at things like this… And it is to try and fail… And try again, and fail better…**


	7. Chili

**Okay… Here I go again….**

The train ride over to Sarah's place was a bit awkward, but not in the social way… But in the 'You're-dog-tired-and-just-want-to-sleep,-and-your-body-is-aching-and-your-arm-is-strapped-to-your-chest-in-an-uncomfortable-way…'

And the train was packed with people, and his shoulder hurt much more than he wanted to admit to anyone, ever…

And the only spots left was for standing…

"Connor…" Sarah's voice drove him away from his thoughts.

He looked up and smiled at her, the smile reached his eyes.

"What would you like for dinner?"

He shrugged his good shoulder, "Anything's good… You decide!"

"You're not allergic to anything?"

"Nope, I'm lucky that way…" he smiled again.

She smiled back at him, "Good to hear!"

She paused for a few seconds before she spoke up again. "What about Chili Con Carne?"

A confused expression crossed his features, "I thought you were vegan…?"

"That time at the food-truck?"

Connor nodded.

"I was just playing with you… Plus I really wanted a salad that day…"

Connor managed to chuckle at her honesty, yeah… Salads were great. Occasionally…

She winked at him. Just a short blink of both eyes, but it made his heart miss a beat. "So… Chili?"

"Perfect…" he smiled at her once again.

"Ready to get off at the next stop?"

Connor nodded.

 **CM**

Her apartment was small, and overstuffed of things she _actually_ needed… Like her computer and books, her snowboard that she couldn't store at her parent's house back home, kitchen gear and different furniture.

Okay… She might not have thought it through when she asked Connor Rhodes home with her earlier…. It wasn't like her apartment was messy or dirty, but she never managed to make it look tidy. She blamed the fact that she could have fitted the whole damn apartment into their kitchen back home…

"I have to warn you… It might look like a mess… I've lived in various small apartments over the last couple of years, but I'm still not used to the lack of space…" she felt her hands shaking, she was actually terrifyingly nervous…

He grinned back at her, "Relax… I lived out of a eight by ten feet room for almost a year… Cooker included… Truth is, I didn't bring a lot over there, but the room got stuffed either way…"

She let out a nervous laugh as she turned the key, and the latch slid open.

Well, at least she had folded her laundry before heading to the hospital that day. And put them away in her closet…

She lead the way into the small, undersized apartment. Carefully holding the door for Connor as he followed her.

"You can see if you can find the couch… I doubt you'll get lost on the way over..."

"You don't want me to keep you company in the kitchen?"

Reese couldn't help but smile a little bit wider, before she looked down at her shoes.

"I'd love that, but you look like you could really use some rest, and it's basically the same room anyway…"

"Okay then…" Connor answered and his lips tugged into a smile.

"You should get some sleep, I'll wake you up when the dinner is ready…" Reese offered as she tied the apron around her waist.

"Thank you…" Connor breathed, and Reese could see how his shoulders sank down into a more relaxed position.

 **CM**

As Connor Rhodes sank into the couch, the image of Reese in her yellow apron danced before his inner eye. Sure, she looked great in her work clothes, but this homey look really struck a him…

 **CM**

Almost half an hour later, Sarah was finished with the Chili and had heated up a couple of homemade oatmeal buns.

She cleaned and set the table, then she walked around the couch to see if Connor was awake or not.

She hunched down at the far end of the couch, just beside his legs. She started saying his name, then when it proved to be a battle to wake him, she placed her hand on his leg and shook him a little. And slowly but surely he started to wake up.

She felt bad as she saw pain flash across his face. The old, uneven, couch surely couldn't be any good for his bad shoulder…

Once his eyes cleared, and he looked like he knew where he was, she stood up and stretched her hand out for him to grab a hold of.

Instead of reaching for her hand, he supported his right arm with his left as he tried to sit back up. Only to make it halfway up, and fall back down. Grimacing.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Sarah leaned in closer, "Can I help you with anything? Do you need any meds or anything?"

"No, no… I'm good…" Connor gritted his teeth, after a few seconds he changed his opinion, "On second thought, I could use a little help to get up…"

Sarah nodded, and placed one of her hands on Connor's back to help him up.

 **CM**

"It smells delicious…" he complimented as he lowered himself onto the kitchen chair closest to the living room part of the room.

"Thank you…" she smiled as she sat down in her seat.

Connor locked eyes with Sara, just before they were about to eat. He had to find a way to charm the heck out of her… Because for the past four months, he had grown more and more fond of Sarah Reese.

How could he make her fall for him?

 **Okay… I wrote a bit fluffish…? Maybe…**

 **Hope you liked it!**


	8. study

**Hello. Again…**

And the food was delicious. Spicy and well-rounded at the same time... Just the way he liked it.

His right shoulder was thudding along rhythmically, but it didn't really bother him too much. Okay, it hurt… But he had rested about an hour total, at least if he counted the train-ride, and he hadn't used his arm that day… He had been able to just let it rest in its sling all day.

While he ate, he studied Sarah. Her brown curls were amazing, and fit her perfectly. He couldn't keep his eyes off of her. As far as he knew, she was amazing.

"What?" Sarah looked up at him with a quizzical look.

Connor almost blushed, he wanted to flirt with her, start what could be a relationship with her… But was it too early? Would he scare her off if he…?

He went for a safeish answer.

"Your hair is so pretty that I had to study it."

He offered her a lopsided grin, before he returned his eyes to the bowl of chili. Just in time to miss her blush and smile. It would have been a lot easier for the both of them if he had only looked at her for four more seconds…

 **CM**

Sarah wasn't quite sure if she could trust her instincts. If she had any at all… The curse of being insecure of yourself… She was partly thankful that Connor looked down when he did, and partly disappointed…

 _Was he flirting with her? Should she flirt with him? Would she screw up everything if she started dropping hints that she liked him? Was he even interested?_

She took a pause from eating her dinner to watch Connor eat and act.

 _Gosh… He was so beautiful._

Kind, grey eyes. Soft looking lips, and a smile that could brighten up just about anything. And yeah, the tattoos and the stubbles didn't exactly drag down on the hot-scale… She had always had a thing for boys, or men, with a bad-boy appearance.

 _I hope I'm good enough._

She thought about it for a split second.

 _There is no way I'm good enough for him. He seems to be Mr. Perfect… I'm more of a gray mouse… A boring gray mouse, with unmanageable curls…_

 **CM**

 _How should he do it? How should he say it? Should he take a head on approach and just ask her to be his girlfriend? Or was that too sixth-grade-like?_

Right now he was willing to listen to just about any advice he might get…

 _Was the comment about her hair too obvious? Or not obvious at all?_

It was driving him crazy.

 **Okay… Kinda short chapter…  
Sorry. Will come up with more, soon… **


	9. kissing session

**Ta-daaaah! Another chapter!**

After cleaning up the small mess she had made in the kitchen area, Sarah joined Connor on the couch. She apparently decided enough was enough.

She leaned in close to his left side, his safe side, and placed a quick kiss on his cheek.

He jerked, startled by the kiss. But instead of flinching away, he turned towards her… His eyes meeting hers, a mixture of joy and relief was visible deep within them. A smile spread across his lips, before he mimicked her, and placed a kiss on her forehead.

The smile on Sarah's face when Connor pulled back and looked at her, was wonderful. She was practically beaming… And it made him smile.

"You were just waiting for that too?" Sarah whispered towards him.

Connor nodded, his eyes locked on her lips. Hoping for the clear to go for the next step. She winked at him, and he leaned in for a good, long, kiss.

Sarah's hand came up to rest on the back of Connor's good shoulder. Pulling them closer to each other. Connor's good hand came up to support Sarah's chin. His fingers a lot rougher and calloused than what you expected from surgeon who had had a trust fund since the day he was born…

 **CM**

He was almost nine years older than her, but she didn't care… She didn't care at all…  
They were both adults.

She moved with him, enjoying every second of it. And if his actions were to go by, he enjoyed it just as much.

The movie playing on the TV was completely forgotten within the first two minutes. And within the next quarter hour they moved from sitting to a more horizontal position on the couch.

Sarah was cautious not to come near Connor's right shoulder. She didn't know too much about his shoulder, and she didn't want to cause him pain… She didn't know how much it could hurt, or how much he could handle… She would have to let him set the pace.

But she liked the way this was heading…

 **CM**

His shoulder ached a lot, A LOT. But he didn't want to ruin this moment. Except for his shoulder, the moment was perfect. Genuinely perfect.

But his shoulder HURT. Stars and planets, hurt…

And his elbow started cramping, like it sometimes did… And he tried his best to ignore it. He really did. But then his shoulder started seizing…

He gasped and reached for his arm and shoulder. His eyes squeezed shut, his right hand involuntarily clenched in a fist. A pain filled moan escaped his lips before he had the chance to stop it.

And Sarah shot back up as if he had suddenly turned into a burning hot plate.

"Shit! Did I do anything wrong?" her eyes were wide as she climbed off both him and the couch.

He shook his head, he couldn't speak just yet... He might end up screaming…

It took five minutes before he managed to do anything else than focusing on controlling his breathing.

"Can you help me up?" he closed his eyes and asked. His left hand still firmly clasping his right.

He winced as she moved her hand down behind his back.

"Sorry!"

"Wasn't you…" he opened his eyes wide, blinked away a few tears that formed, "Shoulder just decided to seize… Does that sometimes…"

She looked at him and nodded. She felt bad for him… And she couldn't help but feel a bit guilty too…

"Could you find my bag? I think I left it by the door…" his eyes met hers, "Or… If you could just search through the front pocket… There should be a pill bottle with Vicodin… Could you bring me a pill and a half?"

She nodded and did as he asked, she came back with the pills and a tall glass of water.

"Thanks!"

The pain died down after a while, and they sat and talked for hours. And kissed…

 **CM**

They had both forgotten all about the time, until Sarah glanced up at the watch hanging on the wall. It showed 1 A.M.

"Is it that late already?" she asked as she tilted her head.

"Wow, I didn't expect that…" Connor added when he too glanced up at the watch.

They both started their shift at eight the next morning, which meant that they probably should be asleep already…

"I should probably get back home and get to bed…" Connor said as he pushed himself to his feet.

"Or you could sleep here… I have a queen-size bed… I swear, it's a lot more comfy than the couch…" she didn't want to add the fact that he looked like he couldn't take 35 minutes with a train or a bus.

"You sure?"

Sarah nodded, "Worst case, I'll be sleeping on the couch…"

He smiled and placed a kiss on her forehead.

"Thank you…"

 **Okay… I'm not all that great when it comes to romance and stuff… But I try…**

 **Hope you enjoyed it…**


	10. next morning

**Hello, I'm back!**

The alarm clock started beeping six o'clock. His shoulder had been 'beeping' for since 5:30.

He looked towards the window, saw white flakes making their way down outside. Hopefully it wasn't a lot of snow… But considering how his shoulder had acted the last day, it could easily be seven feet of snow outside…

Sarah stirred on the other side of the bed. Not enough to jostle him.

She let out one of those little 'It's-too-damn-early-for-my-alarm-to-be-ringing,-I'm-not-awake-yet' moans. Connor smiled. He had already fallen for her, fallen hard.

If his bad shoulder hadn't been between them, he would have rolled over and brushed his hand across her cheek. Placed a kiss…? Maybe?

The alarm-clock stopped beeping, and Connor felt Sarah turn around on the other side of the bed.

She leaned over towards him, her curls brushed against his bare chest. It tickled.

"How are you holding up?" she let her eyes take a detour down to his right shoulder, where three scars decorated him.

He wanted to say that everything was fine, that his shoulder was all better… But there was compelling evidence for the opposite.

"Let's say 50 percent… It isn't torture, but it isn't all good either…"

Sarah nodded, she seemed to be walking on eggshells around his shoulder. Especially after the couch incident… It was no big deal, Connor knew that… It was only pain anyway…

"Would you like me to cook up some breakfast?"

He smiled up at her, "That would be great!"

"Or would you prefer a shower first? I kinda planned on one, and the only thing even remotely close to 'big' in this apartment is the shower…" she looked everywhere but at him…

"A shower sounds even better, now that you mention it…"

When he didn't make a move to get up within the next fifteen seconds, Sarah finally understood that he would like to be left alone for that struggle.

"I'll go set the water running… Okay?"

He gave her a thankful smile, happy that he hadn't had to explain anything to her.

"I'll be right after you…"

 **CM**

He didn't bother wrestling the sling on before the shower, only to have to wrestle it off and then back on again. So he grabbed a hold of his arm, a couple of inches below the elbow and tried to secure it in that way…

He knew what he was going to do during the shower… First, he'd steal the spot that left his right shoulder in the beam of the showerhead. After about a minute or two, his ligaments should be 'thawed' up, and he should be able to slowly let his right arm come down to rest along his side…  
His normal procedure…

 **CM**

Sarah couldn't keep her eyes off Connor's scars. And each time she caught herself doing it, she felt ashamed and tried to find some random spot in the roof to hang her stare…

She had a huge problem… Because… Well, you weren't exactly supposed to think that scars were pretty, or sexy… At least not scars like these ones… Not scars that _looked_ like the original wounds easily could have killed the person.

But those 'imperfections' only made Connor Rhodes more perfect…

Her eyes darted to the corner of the ceiling once again.

"Okay… We apparently need to address the giant elephant in the room…" Connor's deep voice tore her eyes back to him?

"Wha…?"

"You look uncomfortable…"

"No… I don't."

"You keep switching between staring off into the room, awkwardly… And looking at my scars…"

"But… But… But…"

"It's okay… I'm totally fine with it…" Connor winked at her. "Got used to them a long time ago…"

"You sure?"

Connor nodded.

"Just like tattoos, but with better stories…"

"Good"

Sarah moved her hand up to hover just above the still angry pink scars.

"Go ahead…" Connor nodded her on.

"You'll tell me if I'm about to do something that will hurt you… Right?"

He licked his lips and nodded. Placing his good hand on her bare side when she moved closer to him in the steamy shower.

 **Okay…**

 **Any thoughts about scars? Or anything else in this chapter?**


	11. games

**Welcome back… Here's more for you…**

They finished off showering, Connor was glad to see that Sarah relaxed. The muscles around his shoulder eased up to the warm water…

"I'll make breakfast, you get dressed…" Sarah said as she patted herself dry, and started putting on her underwear.

Connor nodded.

Once Sarah left the room, Connor started struggling with his own clothes. It was slow, and a painful procedure… But it was one of those things that had to be done, just imagine showing up for work in your underwear or less…

He put on his jeans, buttoned them and tightened his belt as best as he could.

He guided the shirt onto his right arm, wincing due to the small move he had to make with his bad arm. Then he put his left hand through the other sleeve and shrugged the shirt in place. For the million and seventh time, he cussed the fact that EVERY DAMN THING is made for righties… Buttoned shirts included…

He managed just fine, usually… When he was just left handed… (Or ambidextrous and leaning towards the left… Whatever…) But days like these, when his right arm was strictly out of commission…

As soon as his shirt was buttoned and ready, he placed the sling over his head and navigated his right arm into it. Hopefully it would be a slow day at the hospital, who was he kidding? It was the first few days of snow and winter… There was no chance at all that it would be a slow day…

By the time he entered the other rooms, Sarah had finished cooking scrambled eggs.

 **CM**

The train was late, due to the two feet of snow that covered everything in Chicago. They stood on the station waiting. Sarah stood close enough for Connor to rest his left arm on her shoulder. Sarah wrapped her arm around Connor's waist.

"Play this cool for a couple of weeks? Or tell the rest right away?" Connor whispered down to her. He was sure that he was sure…

She tilted her head to look up at him, not sure what to answer.

"Keeping quiet would be the smart move… But I'm ready to tell if you are…"

A smile crossed his lips, and he pulled her a little closer.

"That was my thought too…"

"Or tell if they ask?" she countered. "Have a little fun with them, fly under the radar for a while…"

"Keep it secret? Just for the thrill?" his grey eyes smiled down at her.

"Yeah…"

"Then we do that." He said with a final kiss on Sarah's forehead as the train arrived.

 **CM**

They walked over from the train station together, a few feet apart. Just like friends or coworkers would.

They stepped inside the front doors together.

Another shift started…

 **Well… Games are fun…**


	12. rub

**Wow, the comments suddenly exploded…  
Thanks!**

Sarah walked around with a subtle smile on her lips all day. She was amazed by the fact that Connor had a thing going for her as well… That had to be a miracle. No other way around it…

She almost danced as she tended to yet another fractured arm. There was no shortage of those for the moment…

Her phone buzzed as she finished wrapping the cast and told the patient what he needed to know.

"Hey, cutie pie… May I buy you a dinner tonight?" It was a handsome young man, about her age… But nowhere near Connor… Nowhere even remotely close…

"Sorry… But I'm seeing someone… Besides… I don't know if the hospital would have liked it…"

The young man looked thoroughly disappointed, but he took it well… "Okay then…"

The patient walked out, and Reese fished her phone out of her pocket.

 _'_ _Hey… Eat out tonight? My treat…  
-CR'_

She smiled and typed her answer.

 _'_ _Yeah! Sure! What place do you have in mind?'_

It took maybe half a minute before she got his reply.

 _'_ _I have a few places in mind… What do you want? Chinese, Italian, French, Mexican? Traditional American?... Or anything else…?'_

She thought about it, it was a long time since she'd been to an Italian restaurant.

 _'_ _Italian… I guess…'_

A minute passed before her phone buzzed again.

 _'_ _Great!'_

 **CM**

Connor stared at the monitor showing the MRI of Evan Harper's knee. Without difficulty he had spotted the cause of the pain. A torn ACL… Yep, those hurt… He would know…

He felt sorry for the guy, but once again… Snow and motorcycles don't mix… It was his own fault…

He logged off the computer and headed towards the room where Mr. Harper waited. He told him the news, and scheduled the surgery.

He decided Evan would be his last patient before lunch-hour, after all… It was just two minutes away, and he sure could use a break… And some painkillers… And to crack his shoulder… But that would only hurt just as much as it would give him a second of relief…

It honestly felt like his shoulder was subluxated… Almost dislocated, but not entirely…

Yeah… He deserved to take a break now… He had taken that _last_ , _quick_ patient many times before… That one that you would think took about five-ten minutes, but ended up taking half an hour…  
Not today…

He walked out to the desk, to tell the person in charge there that he took his lunchbreak, now.

"No more patients for you, until you get some rest." Maggie stared firmly at him, speaking with all the authority she could muster.

He shut his eyes, almost embarrassed, was it that obvious?

"Was just on my way to tell you guys that I would take lunch now… So, yeah… Rest…"

Maggie nodded with a satisfied smile.

"Good choice Dr. Rhodes."

He nodded and turned to walk towards the cafeteria.

 **CM**

He chose some kind of hot-dish from the cafeteria. What could he say? It was classic hospital food… Not gourmet in any kind of way…

He balanced the tray one handed as he made his way over to the table he picked out for them. He was the first one there, well… At least the first one from his shift…

He sat down, and gently started rubbing his shoulder. He let his head fall against the table, his shoulder hurt, his neck was sore… His elbow had stiffened up… Life was messing around with him.

He heard light footfalls stepping towards him, he didn't have to look to know the owner of those steps.

"Anything I can help you with?" Sarah whispered as she sat down beside him.

He nodded, without speaking at first. His left hand still attempting to massage his right shoulder.

"You know… You kinda have to tell me in case you want me to help you…"

He nodded again.

"Could you try and massage my shoulder?"

"Yeah, sure…" she answered and straddled the bench, facing Connor.

Connor got himself into the same position as Sarah sat in, his back towards her.

"Gently…" he said.

Sarah placed her hands on Connor's shoulder, and jerked away as he winced and flinched away under her touch.

"Sorry! I didn't mean to… I didn't know how bad it was!"

Connor inhaled sharply, and forced his breathing back to normal again. "No, it's good… It's all good… Just continue…"

Sarah grimaced as she prepared herself to rub his shoulder again. She tried to make her touch butterfly-light. He didn't flinch away…

"This better?"

She saw his dark mop of hair bobbing up and down in a nod.

He hissed as she hit a sore spot, even more sore than the rest of his shoulder…

"Once again… Sorry…"

"Don't worry… It feels great!" he wasn't lying, the soft touch of her hands had eased his muscles up. A lot.

She stopped as she saw Ethan coming into the cafeteria.

 **Okay… Sorry it took a day or two… Sorry…**

 **Hope you enjoyed…**


	13. snap

**Back again… Hello darlings…**

"What's up?" Ethan asked as he placed his tray down somewhere on the other side of the table.

"Not much…" Sarah answered.

"How's the shoulder?" he raised his eyebrows as he asked.

Connor drew his lips tight over his teeth, and looked up at Choi. He didn't really want to answer, because that would be admitting yet another weakness to another person. (Reese was different, Reese was… His girlfriend… Oh shit! He actually had a girlfriend… He honestly couldn't think of the last time he had a real girlfriend, and not just a fling… He was 99 percent sure that this was a real thing… That this was not just… A fling…)

"Just about fine…" he didn't even try to cover the lie.

"Bad, huh…" Ethan tilted his head and looked towards the messed up shoulder.

Connor nodded.

"Cause of the weather?"

"Most likely…"

Ethan winced in sympathy. He had never been injured himself, but he had seen a lot of his friends get hurt and struggle with the aftermath.

 **CM**

"It's snowing cows out there!" Maggie complained as she shook her head to free her hair for white flakes. Her scrubs were dampened by melted snow across the shoulders.

"I know…" Connor answered.

"And it's so damn cold outside! The wind doesn't help at all!" Will commented, also annoyed about the weather.

"I know!" Connor added again. His arm was flaring up, and if it hadn't been like this many times before already, he would have been scared for his own health. But then again… It was his shoulder… And it was just pain…

Will nodded.

"I hope it gets warmer soon…" Natalie said as she rubbed her growing belly.

Connor nodded, he agreed completely.

"I mean… I'm going into full preggo mode… Swollen feet and joints don't play well with the cold…" she suddenly felt a stab of guilt when she saw Connor's agreeing nod. She was pretty sure that swollen joints from being pregnant didn't come even close to an old GSW acting up to bad weather.

 **CM**

By noon, his shoulder was worse than what he had in recent memory. Even stepping down on his right leg lit up explosions inside his bad shoulder. He was just about seeing stars already.

But it was fine…

Until he heard someone yell 'Coming through!' And he had to dodge the moving trolley…

The jerk his abused shoulder suffered was enough to send him directly to his knees. He dropped the water bottle he had been carrying and clasped his hand around the bicep of his bad arm in an attempt to steady it.

It literally felt like something had teared apart. He saw it like some kind of CSI holograms on TV, where you usually see the bullet, or knife penetrate the body in a 3D hologram before it lodges between two ribs or something. He could clearly see _that_ but of his rotator cuff snapping in two…

His eyes were watering, and everything seemed to blur into a blend of wall white and floor grey… He didn't even notice people around him, he didn't notice ANYTHING else than the damn INTENSE pain in his shoulder.

 **CM**

It took Will a few seconds to realize that the low rumble sounding throughout the ER was Connor. It was similar to the sound alligators or crocodiles make when they're angry. Deep and primal…

He hurried over to his co-worker. He was kneeling, holding on to his right arm for dear life.

He heard the low and steady stream of cusswords that escaped Connor's lips, barely audible under the growling thing he did. Will knew he was in great pain, but he almost felt helpless as he tried to fumble for anything that could help Connor.

He tried to grab a hold of Connor's upper arm, to help him keep it steady, but the yelp the black haired doctor let out made him release his grip.

"Knock. ME. OUT!"

Will stared at his friend with wonder.

"What?"

"Knockmeout! Medically." Beads of sweat was protruding on his forehead, just one sign of the agony he was in.

"Oh…" Will went for the nearest cabinet, "Right!"

He jabbed Connor with the needle, and pushed the content into his system. Will felt the faintest relief as Connor sagged against him, heading towards unconsciousness.

He didn't know it was this bad… If he had, he would have demanded that Connor took a week off…

A few of the others reached them, and helped him get Connor up in a hospital bed.

 **Just to make sure you get it… He** ** _felt_** **like his rotator cuff tore… I didn't say it happened. Not just yet any way… But the possibility is there… Just sayin…**


	14. sling

**Lalalala… Hello again!**

"What happened?" Sharon asked as she walked into the room they had placed Connor in. Will and Sarah were both standing by his bed, doing nothing but looking after their _friend_.

"He jumped out of the way for someone going to the OR, something must have jarred wrong in his shoulder… Or torn…? I don't know… He basically collapsed, and begged me to knock him out…"

"Have you taken an MRI?"

Will shook his head, "No, I was waiting for him to wake up, so he could tell us what he wanted to do…"

Sharon nodded. "Connor have given me some instructions, in case something like this ever happened while he was working… He kindly wrote it down for me too… I'll go find it."

Sarah squeezed Connor's free hand, the one not strapped to his chest.

"You two," Sharon motioned towards Will and Sarah, "you go get an MRI of his shoulder."

"Yes, mam!" Will answered as Reese nodded.

 **CM**

Connor woke up hours later. He was a little disoriented at first, but it didn't take him long to figure out where he was and what had happened.

He looked around, no one else was there…

He let his left hand travel up across his chest. Towards his shoulder. He stopped when his fingers found the telltale bulge of bandages covering a new wound.

"Crap."

He knew exactly what had happened. Something had torn… And they had done just what he had asked Sharon to do if it ever happened. They had performed the surgery… Good…

He tried to take a glance at it, without turning his head. He knew that would probably just add to the pain later on, when he actually felt anything… He couldn't see it, the angle was too sharp to focus.

He let his left hand travel downward, he stopped when he met the fabric of the sling. It wasn't the same old thing he had worn each and every time his shoulder had acted up. No… This was a more advanced thing… One that wrapped around his waist as well, to keep his arm absolutely still.

He didn't bother testing if moving his hand hurt. It probably would, just not straight away… Besides, he had what he regarded as some of the best doctors in the country… And there was no need for him to rush things.

He let his left hand fall back against the bed, then he closed his eyes. Might as well go back to sleep for a couple of hours… Nothing better to do…

 **CM**

Sarah Reese walked in Connor's room. He was sleeping.

Her shift was over, and she could have gone back home, but she figured that it would have felt wrong. Leaving Connor without saying goodnight or anything…

She pulled the chair closer to the bed, she planned to sit there for as long as she could. As long as she could keep her eyes open.

As soon as she had sat down, she found grey eyes staring back at her. He obviously wasn't sleeping anyway, just resting.

"Hey you…" he whispered.

A smile crossed her lips before she repeated the exact same words back to him.

He smiled back.

"What happened?" he gestured to his bandaged shoulder.

"You tore your rotator cuff…"

"So like six weeks of this contraption, and three months before I can start lifting anything…?"

Sarah nodded. "Yeah… Something like that…"

"This sucks…"

Sarah nodded in agreement. She felt extremely sorry for Connor. She gripped a hold of his left hand and squeezed it once again. This time he squeezed back.

 **Not the longest chapter I know… Hope you enjoyed it…**


	15. release

**Hello, sorry it took a while for me to update. Had a long awaited day completely off, and went to one of the alpine places in the region. Aaaahh… Bliss… Got to play around on my snowboard, which is one of my top 3 pastimes.**

 **And then there was work again… Which is also fun. (I'm truly lucky, I've got 2 jobs and love both of them.) All though it might not leave me a load of time for my hobbies…**

 **So… Here it comes… Another chapter.**

 **And by the way… For this chapter, imagine that we've already figured out about Connor's mom… (But Natalie hasn't given birth yet…)**

It had been three days, and they were ready to release him. The sling completely immobilized his arm and shoulder, and it made it awkward for him to get dressed… Or do anything, really…

It was almost two weeks until he would start with physical therapy. Very easy and lightweight physical therapy. And yeah… The others had basically banned him from the hospital as a doctor for the next five or six weeks… And when he could return, he had to wear a sling at work for an additional couple of weeks. He got the idea behind it and was grateful for his coworkers interest in his wellbeing.

He had the greatest friends and coworkers he could imagine. He couldn't have a better support system. But this recovery would still be as any other recovery… Slow and painful.

 **CM**

There was a knock on the door, and Will Halstead walked in. He hadn't been around much, not like the others that flew in and out of his room on an almost hourly basis. In fact, this was the first time since he had given Connor the summary of the operation…

"Hi…" Will's eyes were glued to his own shoes, unable to look up and meet Connor's eyes.

"Hi…" Connor repeated, sitting up straight in his bed.

"Sorry I haven't been in here all that much…"

"Don't worry 'bout it… I haven't really been alone since I was admitted…" Connor smiled back.

"No, but I…" Will paused as he searched for his words, "I feel like a jackass for not visiting…"

"Hey, don't worry about it. No problem…"

Will didn't seem like he agreed. It seemed like something was nagging at him. He paced back and forth a few steps, before he finally stopped abruptly by the head-end of the bed.

"I'm sorry…"

"What?"

"I'm sorry for all the shitty things I've done towards you… Said to you…"

When Will saw Connor's confused expression he continued.

"I've referred to your childhood as easy, I've believed that with your family's money it has all been a dance on roses…" he paused to inhale, "I've thought that my childhood has been worse than yours, that I've had it generally worse than you. But then I learned about your mother, and then Riyadh… Okay, I knew about your time in Riyadh, but I didn't know about that…"

He gestured to Connor's shoulder.

"And I'm sorry I didn't think about it, didn't think it through… I should have… I'm such a dick!"

Connor couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's ramblings.

"You couldn't know, man." Connor tried to console his buddy, "I've always done my best to hide it, everything… Don't blame yourself."

"But I…"

"Shit happens to all of us… I figure we've all got a certain amount of bad things we have to suffer through in our lifetime. I'm just taking the worst part now while I'm young…" he tried keeping his tone light as he joked about it, but he meant it just as much.

"Would it be alright if I asked you about what happened to your shoulder? How it happened? A little more detailed than in a bullet's pathway…?"

Connor nodded.

"It would probably be healthy for me too… But I think I'll take a day or two more of rest first…"

Will smiled, "Yeah, that sounds like a good plan. You need rest, doctor's orders… Remember?"

"Yeah… I remember…"

"But I bet Sarah remind you of that all the time…?"

"Huh?"

"She's been in here an awful lot…" Will teased, "Anything between you two?"

Connor's face reddened and he tried to avoid eye-contact.

"So there is…"

"It's very new… We agreed to let you guys figure out on your own… Guess you did."

Will had no problem seeing the smile spread across Connor's face, and it warmed his heart. The guy deserved something going his way… And he had totally had the two of them marked down as a future couple…

"I'll keep my mouth shut then… We can check how long it takes for the rest of the team to figure it out…"

"I bet Maggie or April will be the next one to figure it out!"

Will nodded.

"Don't underestimate Dr. Charles… He's good at reading people…"

Connor chuckled, "Yeah… I bet he is."

 **And thank you all so much for all the fantastic comments so far! Thank you!**


	16. Order some pizza

**Heeey, sorry I dropped off the face of the earth for about a week there… I certainly didn't mean to…**

 **Now… Where was I…?**

There wasn't much to do at home, except sit and wait… Not exactly his greatest strengths…

And of course Sarah worked, so she couldn't be around all the time. And he was bored most of the time…

Thankfully he had a lot of movies at home, so at least he had something to do…

His stomach started growling, and he wondered if he should make some dinner for himself. Then again… He would have a hard time cooking anything, or cutting up anything? Yeah, chopping up onions would wouldn't be easy.  
Maybe he should just cave in and order some pizza? Yeah, pizza was a great choice.

He stood up from the couch, and walked over to where his phone laid on the kitchen counter.

He dialed the number to the closest pizza place with delivery. He ordered a large number 8, and one number 25. In case he didn't eat all of it, pizza tasted great cold…

He sat back down in the couch and flipped through old messages on his phones. Maybe he should text Max? Invite him over to tell old stories and lies? Or Ryan? Catch up on his sad attempt at an acting career.

He opened up a blank message and started typing, still not sure about whether he should text Max or Ryan. So he just started typing.

 _Hey, mate…  
Wanna catch up?  
Got pizza and beer, or soda…  
Whatever u want…_

He stared at the contact-list for a long while, before he checked off Max.

A few minutes passed before his phone buzzed on the coffee table. He picked it up hopeful.

 _Yeah, sure!  
I'm off work in 15…  
Want me to bring something?_

Connor thought about the status quo of his fridge.

 _You like sour cream? Right?_

A minute or so passed again.

 _Okay, yeah! I'll bring sour cream!_

Connor smiled, he remembered Max eating pizza. Or rather condiments with pizza beneath…

 _Kay… See you in a few…_

Connor relaxed back against the couch. He had nothing to do before the pizza or Max got there.

Suddenly his phone buzzed again.

 _Hey handsome! 3  
Just wanted to let you know  
that I miss U!_

Connor smiled down at the message from Sarah.

 _Thanks darlin'!  
Missing you too, you're  
coming over after work right?  
3_

 **CM**

Someone knocked on the door a little while later. Connor padded over to the door and unlocked it.

It was the pizza man, he carried two large pizza boxes.

"That'll be $32.51" the sandy-blonde pizza man said with a well-rehearsed smile on his face.

"Let me grab my wallet… Could you just put the pizzas on the table there?"

The delivery-guy looked hesitantly at the table.

"Please… I've got a slight handicap going on here…" Connor gestured to his shoulder and sling.

The pizza guy smiled and placed the boxes on the table. Connor handed him $45.

"Keep the change…"

"Thank you!" the man answered, "Hope you enjoy the pizzas!"

The delivery guy left just in time to see Max come out of the elevator and man-hug Connor.

 **Let's pause it right there… Hope you enjoyed it!**

 **And once again, sorry I didn't post for a while…**


	17. Max

**Hello again! Let's see what happens during this chapter… Sorry that I haven't posted anything for this story in forever… I've been busy, and distracted and I didn't know where to go with this story… So I waited for inspiration, which of course never came.  
Well, I managed to write something… Here it is.  
Hope you enjoy!**

 **CM**

"Whoa, what happened dude?" was Max' first words after he released his grip around a visibly pained Rhodes.

"Shoulder... Tore my rotator cuff, had surgery about a week ago…"

"Hey, look… I'm sorry, hope I didn't mess it up again for you…"

Connor shook his head, "Don't worry about it…"

"How did it happen?"

"Old injury acted up bad, got too stiff and then it ripped…" Connor explained, trying to make the whole thing sound as dull as possible.

"I didn't know you had an old shoulder injury. When? How did that happen?"

"Long story…"

"I've got time…" Max smiled, "And there's pizza…"

"Yeah, you're right…"

They stood there looking at each other for a few minutes, before either of them spoke again. It was Max who spoke up first.

"So… What the hell have you been up to for the last couple of years."

"A little this and that…" Connor answered, not really sure what level of detail he would go into. "But tell me about yourself first!"

Max smiled, shrugged and walked over to where he saw the sofa.

"Well, I'm working at the high school near Hyde park… Got engaged half a year ago, and I have two sons, 5 and 2."

"Wow, that's great man! Congratulations! But you, as a teacher? Really? I didn't see that coming. Mount Caramel right?"

"Relax, I'm kidding… I still work at the factory, same as I did in high school… Still drive that old beat up Honda. It's even more ruined now… I've not go any kids, or girlfriend…"

"Well… When you say it like that it sounds extra depressing."

Max chuckled. "Don't worry… I'm all good. I've got two boys though… Rex, he's five, and Tramp, he's two…"

Connor looked over at Max, "Let me guess, street mix dogs?"

Max nodded, just like a proud father. "I've got pictures, do you want to see them?"

Connor nodded, and Max pulled up his phone. Then he proceeded to show a picture of each of his dogs.

"Cute…" Connor nodded, "So, you're the proud papa of those two mutts…"

Max nodded. "Now tell me about your life. I haven't really seen you since forever…"

"Yeah… But first, pizza!" Connor said and nodded towards the pizza boxes.

 **CM**

"So… When did it happen?" Max asked motioning towards Connor's shoulder.

"A couple of years back. November '13…" Connor answered between bites of pizza.

"Weren't you overseas then?"

"Yeah, I was in Riyadh."

"But you were a doctor, right?"

"Yeah, but the place was a real shithole. We worked overtime, and lived in constant fear of being blown up. When you had time off, you usually spent it working…" He looked down at his arm resting securely in the sling. How messed up could life be? "I volunteered for the ambulance one day… I did that sometimes…"

"Never volunteer for anything, dumbass…"

That's it. That was where he had that from. _Never volunteer for anything_. It was Max' line…

"Yeah, I got the memo a little too late…"

"So… What happened?"

"Chaos…" Connor took a deep breath, "There was bombs, and guns and a kid bleeding to death…"

"Oh…"

Connor kept silent.

"I ran over to the kid and got elbow deep in his chest… Found a bad bleeder and clamped it between my fingers." He could feel how tears were closing in on him. "Then I became a target…"

"Aaaand you got hit?"

Connor nodded. "Caught a few pieces of shrapnel and a bullet… Was out for half a week… Had half an eternity of rehab afterwards…"

"Well, that sucks major ass…"

"It wasn't pleasant…" Connor agreed, "But it was worth it. The kid survived, he even woke up before me…"

Max smiled an uncomfortable smile, because you're not sure how to react when one of your best friends tell you about the worst day of their life… And it involves shooting and bombs and getting shot and almost dying…

"I'm just glad I still have my dorky buddy…"

Connor nodded. "I'm glad to still be here…"

 **CM**

 **Okay, sorry it took so long. Hope you enjoyed my rusty skills…**


End file.
